Free-falling MP rises to his grand challenge

Reading West MP Martin Salter leaps from the plane at the start of his 10,000 feet tandem parachute jump

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Reading West MP Martin Salter took his political campaigning to new heights when he leapt 10,000 feet out of a plane.

But his parachute jump was all for a good cause – Alzheimer’s Day, which took place on Monday.

Mr Salter’s hair-raising jump last Sunday raised almost £1,000 for the charity.

He said: “This jump has given me memories which will last a lifetime and I hope the money raised through the many events organised to mark Alzheimer’s Day will improve both the lives and the memories of those suffering with Alzheimer’s.”

The Labour MP agreed to do the jump after attending the Alzheimer’s Society open day at the Reading branch office in July.

Recent figures suggest the number of people suffering from Alzheimer’s in Berkshire between 2005 and 2021 will increase by an average of 37 per cent.

In Reading the increase is predicted to be 12 per cent but it is higher in West Berkshire, where the disease’s estimated increase is marked at 47 per cent, and in Wokingham, 57 per cent.

The jump took place in Old Sarum Airfield in Wiltshire. Mr Salter was accompanied by Gordon Blamire from Skydive Southcoast in a free-fall of 120mph, lasting 45 seconds.

The parachute opened at 5,000 feet for the final four-minute descent.

Mr Salter said: “It was an absolutely incredible experience which I would thoroughly recommend to anyone who enjoys a challenge.

“The instructors were so calm and competent it was difficult to feel in any real danger.

“The worst bit for me was waiting two hours for a gap in the clouds to appear so we could go up. That was a long time for the imagination to run riot but I managed to keep it all together and was frankly relieved once we got the all clear to take off.

“Best of all has been the great response from friends and colleagues.”